City Offers Help to Renovate Homes in Blighted Neighborhoods

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/07/RandallWoodfinJuly182018.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1080;s:4:"file";s:36:"2018/07/RandallWoodfinJuly182018.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:37:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"RandallWoodfinJuly182018-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Daniel Roth
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => Birmingham Mayor's Office 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1636755532 
1531930473

Two big economic development projects in Birmingham may pay off for city neighborhoods. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced a program Wednesday to spend $1 million on home renovations in blighted neighborhoods.

The program will improve 100 homes in 100 days. Woodfin says the money comes from the sale of two city properties: a downtown parking deck after the grocery delivery app Shipt expanded, and the site of a new data center planned near Sixth Avenue South.

Those sales generated $1.6 million, city officials say. Some of it will also go toward demolition and administration of the home repair program.

Low-income residents or senior citizens who own their homes can apply for assistance. Woodfin says the city will offer up to $10,000 for each approved home.

“Our plan is to bundle our work to transform entire blocks instead of renovating one home on a street, which would otherwise be surrounded by blight,” Woodfin says.

The program’s initial phase will focus on five neighborhoods. Woodfin says there could be similar programs in the future.

The city is partnering with Neighborhood Housing Services for the renovation program. Interested applicants should contact NHS at 205-328-4292 or via email at [email protected]. Laborers interested in working on the renovations should also contact NHS.

 

Trump to name former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Huckabee, a loyalist and former Republican governor, to serve in the key post as ambassador to Israel.

With Trump coming into power, the NIH is in the crosshairs

The National Institutes of Health, the crown jewel of biomedical research in the U.S., could face big changes under the new Trump administration, some fueled by pandemic-era criticisms of the agency.

A man told 911 a bear chased him off a cliff. Weeks later, he was arrested for murder

Authorities say Nicholas Hamlett killed a man in Tennessee in an attempt to steal his identity, and reported it to police as a bear attack. He was arrested in South Carolina after a weekslong manhunt.

Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns over sex abuse scandal

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned over accusations that he failed to report physical and sexual abuse to the police.

A man drove his car into a crowd in southern China, killing 35

A man who authorities said was upset over his divorce settlement rammed his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, police said.

More Front Page Coverage